Keats the Poet

Originally published in 1973, this study of John Keats established a frame of reference for the reading of Keats's works which was rooted in mainstream criticism, but which also pointed the way towards the new deconstructive and revisionary approaches of criticism used today.

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Keats the Poet was first published in 1973, just as the crest of all the New-Critical exegeses had passed, leaving the critical literature with a wealth of fine readings, but without a real organizing program within which to view them. Stuart Sperry established such a frame of reference. Further, he did so with such prescience that even the most radical deconstructive or new historical approaches to Keats today must bear witness to their inception in Sperry's emphasis on, and subtle demonstration of, the centrality of "indeterminacy' in the poet. Now available in paperback for the first time, this work will enlighten a new generation of readers.